Monster in the Abyss: The Abyssal of the South
by Fangking2
Summary: During the 7 year time skip...The Ghosts grew in strength and power...However, a certain boy, now a man, has made a difference. He turned to the cliff that is monsterhood...And threw himself over it. Now he is one of the most feared Awakened Beings on the continent...The Abyssal of the South.
1. Chapter 1

This is an improved version by my beta Eva-Saiyajin...The dude is the man! He did the secondary vbeta from some camp somewhere! That is dedication!

Raki: the Abyssal of the South

Ch1 Birth of the Vanguard of the South!

* * *

Two men stood in a dark room, its contents and appearance characteristic of a laboratory.

"I feel you're being too hasty, Raki. This is dangerous, and I believe it would be wiser to continue your training without taking such a risk."

"Isley…We both know that my strength can't grow anymore. This is the only way."

One was a handsome male with long silver hair that reached down to his shoulders and back. His eyes were blue and his posture was firm. He was not a man at all despite his uncanny resemblance to one. To those that truly knew him, he was known as the White Silver King, Isley the Abyssal One of the North.

He was the first of the male generation of Claymores, humans with the flesh of yoma. Yoma were demonic creatures that plagued the land, and Claymores were the primary weapon against them. There were never more than forty seven of them at a time, and Isley was the former number one, the most powerful of his generation. He was the oldest and perhaps the strongest of the three Great Abyssals. For many years he had controlled the North, but now…his reach has extended far to the south as well. However, the Silver King cared not for land; no, his mind was focused on something very different as he conversed with his most trusted friend.

"You don't know that for sure, Raki. Besides, the work done in this project has gone on for five years and it still hasn't reached a definite breakthrough."

The second man merely smiled. His posture was firm and his stance unwavering. He had light brown hair that was wild and untamed. He had a distinguishable scar above his left eye. He was tall; almost look like around 19 years old. He wore a simple vest and beige pants under a cloak. He had brown eyes that reflected his conviction and resolve.

"Raki, this will forever change you. While we have been working on this for a long time, there is a reason why no one uses an Awakened Being's flesh and blood to make a Claymore, let alone a male one!"

The brown haired man shook his head.

"We both know that a human, even the strongest one, can never last long in this chaotic world. And given how often I encounter youma and other dangerous beings" he shot a wry glance at his companion, who chuckled shortly despite himself "than I'm even more likely to die without accomplishing anything. If I am to make a difference, I need strength that rivals an Awakened Being and more." The man who once travelled with a Claymore replied. He turned to a vial that contained a strange black liquid.

"Adding an Awakened Being's blood into a human is crazy; however my theory that Priscilla's blood being a seal for the raw power has proven correct. We have been doing this for some time Isley. Our experiments on animals have shown that it's much more stable and less dangerous than before."

"I don't dispute that. However, there is a great difference between animals and humans. And I will remind you that we still haven't finished, it's still largely in the experimental state."

"I agree, but the samples of my blood were pure and untainted after the tests were they not? Priscilla helped to make her blood to form a restriction on the solution to adapt to my blood. Isley…We have no more reason to delay it. Our project…New Male Generation Claymore is complete." Raki said his voice filled with excitement. However, his mentor didn't share his positive attitude.

The Silver King felt more uneasy than he had for some time, and a frown had occupied his face for most of the conversation. And Priscilla…Even after years spent together, seeing her in action multiple times, and _fighting her_,she still amazed him sometimes. He knew that Priscilla was powerful, without a doubt more so than him, but to think she managed to manipulate her inspiring levels of yoki in her blood to the point that she could control the solution to this extent was still mind-boggling. The dark liquid concoction around which the current discussion was centred was a solution containing parts of three of the strongest Claymores from various male generations.

But somehow Priscilla managed to contain most of the irregularities, and control their creation to the point that it was _potentially_ ready for its designated use.

This project…was something organized by the two unlikely friends after long discussion over improving Raki's abilities. After many days they concluded that while Raki was a magnificent warrior among humans, he would never be a match for an Awakened Being, save perhaps the weakest and stupidest ever, and even then the outcome would be uncertain. The solution they found was simple…Claymore.

Making a new, more improved male claymore was the answer; however, while the solution was easy to think up, acting on it was far more difficult.

After much trial and error, they concluded the method used by organization was both useless and outdated, for Raki would almost certainly simply awaken like all the other males, however the two men ventured into the world of possibility and found a solution.

Priscilla.

The girl was an Awakened Being, peerless among her kind. One who had powers that made the big three look weak in comparison. Priscilla always demonstrated power and strength that seemed impossible, and after many trials…her blood didn't destroy a sample of Raki's blood and managed to fuse with it. With this discovery the two men added blood from three beings that once roamed the land as some of the mightiest in existence.

Isley the Silver King and Abyssal of the North

Rigardo the Silver Eyed Lion King.

Dauf the fool, a fitting title for a being known more for his idiocy than his strength.

The three samples of their blood were collected and added to a single solution, which since then they had balanced…enough so that a human to drink it.

"…While I realize this was our goal…Raki, are you willing to throw it all away?"

The young man was silent. His body was relaxed, but in his mind existed a turmoil that was raging like a storm.

"…Isley, I don't want to be weak. If I'm strong, then I can protect the ones I care about. If I'm srong…perhaps I can see her again."

Clare…her name and face had never faded from his mind even after all these years. After being separated by that crazy ass woman, even after being sold as a slave in the North, and finally befriending two Awakened Beings, his goal was still the same. He wished to see her again.

"A man's resolve must be absolute…that is what you taught me. Don't worry, Isley. I trust your work."

The silver haired man could only shake his head at the foolishness of his considerably younger friend. While Raki had reached a great height in terms of human capacity, it's most certainly true that he was no match for most of the stronger demons that roamed the land. To kill a man, a man is all that is needed. To kill a monster, a monster is the best option.

"…I will prepare the chamber…you do know that I can't let you out until it fully adapts right?"

"Of course."

The two men descended into the lower basement and begain preparing for the scientific breakthrough. Not long after they began a young girl walked in.

"Raki…danger?" inquired the child. She was dressed in a simple shirt and skirt. She had brown, somewhat ragged hair that swept down the sides of her head and her bangs were parted between her forehead. Her speech pattern and intelligence were like that of a child…however she is the single most powerful being in the entire history of Claymores.

Raki smiled toward the young girl. He went down on one knee before her and patted her head gently. After all these years the young former Claymore had long ceased to inspire any fear in him, and for years had been a source of affection and care for Raki. He treated her not as his enemy, but as his little sister.

"No, no I'm fine Priscilla."

This young girl was the single most powerful Awakened Being in the world. She was quite possibly the most powerful being period. Her power was so vast, that it dwarfed all the super powers. Her power reached the highest among monsters and warriors. However, there was no outward trace of such power…only after sensing deep into her, were only the most superb sensors able feel the dormant power within her.

Raki continued his ministrations for a few more seconds before gently urging her to go outside.

"I'll be fine…I'll see you soon ok?"

The young girl merely nodded and walked away. Before exiting, she turned around to give the brown haired male one last look. Somehow knowing something dangerous will occur.

"Bye bye…" said the Queen of the Awakened beings as she walked out, her destination the outdoors where she spends her time staring into nothing.

"Raki...it is time."

The brown haired man stared at the open door where the young girl left…He still had a chance to stop here. He didn't have to risk everything for a small chance at power. However…He knew that his existence was no match for the world of monsters and that his only chance lay in the hard work he and Isley had spent on the last few years…The curse that he made for himself.

"Ah…right." the young man replied as he followed his mentor downstairs…heading toward the place that might be his death bed or the site of his rebirth.

* * *

The lone human walked into the cell; here he will stay until the side effects from the drug have passed. The pain will be unimaginable, but…this was the path he selected for himself. A curse that will make a man into a beast, but a beast that can make a difference.

There was a man who once said "A monster can only be slain by a man." Such an idea was preposterous. Even with his years of training under a very good teacher, and his skill with multiple weapons, he can slay only the normal youma. Something as powerful as an Awakened Being is beyond the capabilities of a normal mortal, trained or not. His conviction is heart wrenching and painful…Only a monster can slay a monster. Only a man should slay a man. Only the strong can slay the strong.

"My conviction will not falter…to reach the imperial villa, the top of the sky, the peak of the heavens, I must become the very definition of strong." he muttered softly.

The Silver King handed him the vial containing the liquid.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes…See you later, my teacher."

The Silver King cracked a smirk. His blue eyes were full of concern, however was willing to allow this happen.

"Very well, my apprentice...Godspeed." The Abyssal declared as he closed the door, trapping Raki inside.

Raki turned his gaze to the bottle. He brought it up to his mouth and drank.

"Ahhgg…Should have added something for the taste." the human slowly felt heat collecting in his body.

"This…is going to hurt."

His body felt as if someone was tearing it up from inside, his blood was on fire as his muscles screamed in pain. He let out a roar of pain as his entire body began breaking down and remaking itself according to the liquid. Every cell and every bone was replaced and rearranged. It burned off the old, human flesh and replaced it with the powerful body of a monster.

[DEVOUR! RAVAGE! FEAST!…..]

The man clutched his head as he felt his very brain melting and recreating itself as it rearranged his mentality to accept this new…presence. His view was being wrapped and distorted to fit the new mind frame as his conscience was being split from a lone man to another being.

Raki bellowed in pain as he punched and smashed the walls. His actions rewarded him with open cuts and blood spilling from his fists. The raging man didn't care as blood spilled from his mouth and ears as his entire chest was refitted, and his eyes shed tears of blood. His white iris turned black as his pupils slowly changed color. However it was no eye of a Claymore or a Youma. It was an eerily yellow eye in the shape of a horse shoe.

The roared as his body began to glow in a violet aura as his pale flesh shown signs of tanning and it turned greyish. His hair changed as well, slowly but steadily its length became noticeably longer as it reached toward his back. His once brown hair was now white as his lips turned a shade of violet and his developing youki began to flood the basement.

_SNAP! CRACK!_

This arms and legs were repeatedly being broken and remade as it gotten stronger with every pain.

_SNAP! CRREEEKKK! POP!_

His joints and veins were ripped apart and rearranged as they became stronger, tougher…less human. Every tear and creak brought him closer to a monster than a man.

"GGGGGEEEEEE…!"

The changing male's roars were muffled by the specially made walls and doors; however his agony could still be felt by those with sharp senses. His form was becoming more feline as the mixtures of multiple beings were broken down into a new form according to their new host. His energy spiked as it burned away his older form andgf became more adapted to his new form.

"Ha ha ha…AAAAGGHHHH!"

The pain was bone shattering and agonizing, but it was only the beginning.

Outside of the chamber and out in the lawn of the 'home' they were using. Isley was drinks a glass of whiskey.

"Raki…if you live through the process…your training will truly begin."

He could only hope that his friend's mental strength-which was exceptional-would be strong enough to maintain his sanity. This method was new and might actually be worse than the one used by the Organization. While they did not surgically add the flesh of Youma, they did add a solution with blood from powerful Awakened Beings. Something that was reckless, but balanced with Priscilla's blood; however…Priscilla herself was an x-factor. It was unclear what will result…the only thing left was up to Raki.

* * *

(A week passed)

Days…or maybe months.

He didn't know how long he'd been there. His body was in so much pain that he lacked the strength to cry. His body was changing form every moment, his blood now tainted by the blood of powerful former Claymores, which were fighting to adapt to him. He saw glimpses of his body…he saw the grey colored skin, something that was coming out of his body, he even felt something on his back.

"D-do…they all…go through this kind of pain? T-Truly…those women…are stron-g."

Raki had always had respect for the warriors who had given their humanity for the sake of mankind. Girls who had thrown away their chances for normality, and instead opted for eternal, lonely, and thankless servitude that was filled with fear and scorn.

To think they went through such pain…their version according to Isley was even more barbaric than his own. The pain would be similar, but their process was more marring and gruesome than that brought about by a black liquid. They have to surgically attach a part of a youma to the body after all.

Raki couldn't move any part of his body, but his sense of pain was still intact. It was clear that he was no Claymore, but…He wasn't sure if he was an Awakened Being either. Isley told him of the hunger for human flesh, but he felt none of that. Isley also warned him of the danger of being a male claymore, how to them, using youki was almost orgasmic so pleasurable was it. However, he felt nothing as he tried to mold the…strange energy that was travelling throughout his body from the tips of his toes to the crown of his head.

He slowly and painfully rolled onto his back. He saw the dark and filthy ceiling and as he lay there he felt a pulse of pain. He grinded his teeth as he fought back the urge to scream. He gripped the floor tightly, not knowing that his fingers dug into the solid rock and left a series of indentions.

"Just a little longer…Priscilla…Isley…Clare."

The newly born monster closed his eyes, accepting the cool comfort of the darkness.

(Few Two to Three days later)

"Only a few days left...I just need some time…"

"It's not that easy you know." A voice intoned in the dark.

"W-What?" Raki exclaimed, startled.

"Now, now, no need to shout."

"Who are you? What are you?"

"Ah…I see, it is rude for me not to introduce myself." Said the voice as his vision blurred and he realized he was no longer in his cell. He was now in a…throne room?

The room was rather gloomy and ominous looking. It was filled with many painting and statues of warriors and monsters. The floor was made of black and white marble in a chessboard pattern and it had several pillars to support the roof. The throne on the top was made of silver and black metal. The throne was embroidered with jewels and gold indentations and the chair itself was red and looked rather majestic.

"What…Where am I?"

"In our room."

Raki turned around to see…a monster. He was grey and tall. He was around same height as him and had long white hair. The shape of his hair was wild, but its spiky ends were flowing down his back. He also had some lines of hairs on the front, by the side of his head as it reached his chest.

The strange monster had black eyes with yellow pupils. His lips were purple with a tint of blue in them. He was wearing baggy pants and was barefooted. His upper body was devoid of clothes as he displayed a muscular, toned body.

He had a smirk on his face as he turned to Raki.

"Yo…king."

"What the…"

"What with that look…it seems you swallowed a lemon." Teased the demon.

"What-What are you?"

The grey monster raised his eye brow in amusement as he let out a bellow of laugher.

"HAHAHAHA! I am you, I am the world, I am the darkness in you, I am the killing intent, I am the joy, I am the killer, I am the temptation, and I am the wicked!" The demon's grin slowly began to grow.

"I am…your instinct and your ambition. I am the urge that pushed you to be stronger! I am the desire in your heart! And finally!"

He stabbed his finger toward Raki and his insane grin reached well past his eyes.

"I am the one who is going the take that throne as my own!"

Raki felt a suddenly sense of dread as he stared into those black eyes. If this demon is his inner Youma…then one day it will devour him and turn him into a full youma!

"Wrong!"

"HUH?"

The demon leered at him and chuckled.

"Don't put us at the same level as those rejects. We are different from them." The demon declared, a twisted sort of pride filling his voice.

"How so?" asked the brown haired man.

"Unlike those freaks, we were adapted, not forced. Those girls were made like animals, while we forced the darkness to obey us. They are like slaves, chained to the floor, however we are a king who stands above all such restrains! We are a whole new breed of monster; we are stronger, faster, and better."

The Demon walked toward Raki at a slow pace. His steps were filled with confidence and pride…or was it arrogance?

The monster raised his hand and a claymore appeared in it. Raki jumped back and got into a fighting stance. "Don't worry! This is for you." The reflection grinned as he tossed the sword to him. Raki caught it and raised it forward.

The demon raised his hand toward his shoulder, and from there something white grew out. Raki's eyes widen as his darker half pulled out a shoulder bone from his flesh. The bone was like any other bone Raki had ever seen, but one end was sharp, like a blade. Even if using youki was new to Raki, he could feel the vile energy coming off the bone.

"_That's a bone alright, but how did he do that?_" Raki wondered as he held the sword with both hand.

"My abilities are unique, even among Awakened Beings. A combination and adaption of Isley's and Dauf's abilities, I have complete control over my skeletal structure, allowing me to manipulate my bone tissue and it's malleability and density. My bones are far harder than the smiths could ever dream of making steel, even the shells of armored Awakened Beings pales in comparison to it! And the spreading of super hard calcium throughout my body also increases my muscle durability. And of course, my bones are my weapons. Any small injuries that result from obtaining them are easily regenerated!"

He smirked with an absurd amount of confidence as he brought up his newly made bone sword.

"This ability to make bones, adapt my form, and harden my body…Awakened Beings might not name any techniques or abilities they have, but I'm not exactly a proper Awakened Being. Anyway, this is a skill I like to call the 'Dead Bone Pulse.'

"Dead Bone Pulse?" Raki repeated, testing the name.

"Ah…A form that represents all form of a defensive style. With this power…I weld the strongest body." He stated as he charged forward. Raki used his claymore to parry a side slash, but the demon continued his assault by kicking Raki in the chest, which Raki rolled backward from to nullify the impact.

The monster jumped into the air to slam his knee at Raki. As he fell, his knee sprouted two curved bone blades pointing at Raki's head. Raki quickly rolled over as the demon landed where his head used to be a second ago, leaving a large crater on the ground. Raki rolled back to get on his knee. He picked up his large claymore and posed himself for an attack.

Raki charged forward this time and swung his large blade at the demon. In his lesson to kill youma, he learned that youma were stronger and faster than most humans…But it doesn't make their bodies any stronger than a man;s. A clean hit in a vital spot can hinder them enough to get in a killing blow

'Sharper than any other! Stronger than any other! Use all the power in the arm and hip to make that one strike that can cut through bones! Even if he blocks…Envision cutting through it!'

_Whooosh!_

_Clank!_

"...What?"

It was blocked? But he had enough power behind the blow to cut through a youma's arm easily! His target is no Awakened Being of colossal size! There is no way his sword couldn't cut through him!

"Not bad…You used all that you learned from Isley in that strike…However…"

The monster had raised his free hand and from it had erupted several sharp, curved bones. The bundle of sharp bones had caught the brown haired boy's attack as he struggled to bring the sword down on his evil half.

"You still don't understand what I meant by the 'strongest body'" he slashed at Raki's open side with his other hand like a claw.

"AAAAHhhhhhh!" exclaimed Raki as he jumped back, but his inner darkness was faster. The demon buried his claw in Raki's chest.

"One…let's sees how many times I kill you before you understand…"

(Many fights later)

Raki panted as he got back up again. 44 times…he'd died 44 times against this monster and he came back as if nothing happened. Well, he knew he got hurt, he felt every bit of pain the attacks inflicted. His head throbbed as he tried to maintain his sanity, a true chore given that he was killed brutally 44 times. The demon showed quite a bit of what he could do as he was slaughtered again and again.

Bone swords, daggers, spears, and even claws. The monster even pulled out his spine like a chain whip and fired out his finger bones as projectiles.

_SLASH!_

"AAAGGHH!" He groaned out as the demon slashed him on the chest with two bone blades. He felt the warm blood pool on my chest as he got up.

The demon dashed at him and nailed a kick to his upper chest before smashing him into the wall. He then spun around to slash down with his arm, which was covered by an axe like bone. Raki ducked to avoid the slash and nailed his own punch to the demon's chest, however it was protected by ribs that blasted out.

The sharp ribs of his opponent caught his punch and he was trapped.

The demon stabbed his bone sword into Raki's shoulder with a yell. Before he could even scream, he nailed his bladed elbow down through Raki's head. Killing him instantly. His body fell down to the floor like a sack of potatoes. His mind realizing the death once again. He felt the pain of all the wounds he received. He felt even more as the wounds forcefully healed in his mindscape.

"How many times has it been…? 44? 45? Well, I lost count, but I know that every one of them hurt like hell." the demon said idly.

Raki didn't say anything as he struggled to get back up.

_Clank! Clank!_  
"Aggghhhhh!" The boy let out involuntarily as he fell down again. This time he bore a nasty cut across his chest and another across his fore head.

"Tell me Raki…Is Clare worth the risk you've taken? Is fighting worth the risk? Is living alongside Isley and Priscilla truly worth going through this much trouble? For monsters? You have taken the path of a monster to gain power. So the reward better be sweet, right?"

The demon stepped toward him.

He died another ten times at least. The youma that was him suddenly changed as his white skin began to turn grey bit by bit as the greyness spread across his body. His body was soon completely grey and his eyes shined yellow.

"I am bored with this…I'm taking it a step higher." the youma stated as his body shifted and twisted as…he changed form once more.

_Vioosh! Guuuguach!_

He now sported a tail with sharp bones spiking out.

_Vuuuu…Whooosh! Whooosh!_

On his back and shoulder were several bone horns that curved inward.

The demon's tail was swaying right and left.

"What if…she has forgotten about you? After all, you're just a kid and she's a Claymore, why would she care. Is she even alive? You saw what happened in the north….All those dead Claymores…There's no way she's alive right? True, we never found her sword among the graves, but there's no proof that she's alive either…She is after all a mere number 47…"

"SHUT UP!" Raki yelled, standing up and somehow managing to slash the monster's arm, but the wound faded quickly. The demon smirked, "Fighting a losing battle and still trying so hard."

They clashed again, but those damned bones refused to even budge. His claymore seemed almost inadequate compared to them. They exchanged several blows, but it seemd the demon had all the knowledge he had regarding the use of weapons. The demon's style clearly showed signs of Isley's training.

Again they clashed as sparks flew into the air. Their arms blurred as they continued to exchange blow after blow. They stabbed, slashed, swung, and parried, but the demon was clearly winning the exchange. And it often seemed like he was holding back.

"MADA MADA!" roared the demon as he spun around, slamming his tail and shoulder bones into Raki's side and left leg.

"AAAHHHH!" The young man yelled out in pain, but before he could move a bone bladed elbow was driven into his stomach.

"!" He couldn't even scream as he was grabbed. The blade was pulled out, and Raki died again.

"…Not enough."

A finger was pointed at Raki's head.

"Nowhere near enough."

_Whoosh! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!_

…He died again.

* * *

(Many more deaths later)

"…Done now?" the demon asked, staring down at Raki. Raki's body was cold and unmoving. His eyes were white and he was covered in blood.

"Well…if that's all, then there's no point of continuing. See ya, because now I'm the king." The monster declared, walking away.

"…Sorry…it seems I fail….d-dam…n it." His body hurt so much, but it was his mind that was injured the most, for he felt and remembered all the deaths.

"Is this it? To gain nothing in the end. To die here…NO! THIS IS NOT THE END I WAS LOOKING FOR! MY WILL IS NOT THIS SHALLOW! HOW CAN I…HOW CAN I ACCEPT SUCH A NARROW ENDING!"

The young man stood up as his body began to emit youki. Purple flames of youkis covered his form like a blanket. The aura was nearly suffocating.

"…Did he do it?" questioned the demon.

Raki's body was covered in youki like a thick, concentrated mist. From the center of his chest there appeared a mark. It was three black windmills in a circle. The markings slowly spread across his body, as they did with his inner darkness, his instinct, his demon.

"Finally, I thought you were a lost cause, there…King." The demon's tone was damn near respectful.

The demon examined the marks and smiled. "So…since I'm making use of his newfound power…He's tapping into his youki."

Raki roared as they clashed yet again, and this time the demon didn't have a clear advantage. Between their exchanges the demon received a fair share of damages. The demon boasted his defensive power, however it seem the purple youki that Raki is now welding is hardening his body to add more power into his blows.

Raki's sword strike stuck home as the blade dug into the youma's flesh, but it didn't cut through the bone.

After all, he wasn't trying to slice through normal bones.

The two struggled some more until Raki pushed his enemy aside with his shoulder and the two engaged in a furious sword fight. Sparks flew and the sound of clashing blades echoed.

"HAHAHAHA! Perfect, feel the rush! Feel the power! This is your power! Something only you can control! Seize it, tame it, and conquer it!"

Raki roared as he summoned more power and the marking now covering his form glowed an ominous light. The demon summoned another bone sword and used the two blades in a masterful dance as he engaged the power-up version of Raki. The sparks flow as the two men clashed over and over again.

"HHHAAAA!' yelled the demon as he clashed again, but this time he lost the grip on one of his sword and lost it.

"Damn it!" Raki's dark side growled, covering his arm with a bone bladed pike, but Raki dodged the attack and spin around to stab at the youma's chest.

The demons' eyes widened, then…he smirked.

"Ah…Well done." _SHIECCKKKKK!_

"Guh." The demon grunted as he stared at the damaged claymore which had pierced through the thick skin and flesh of his chest.

Raki panted heavily as he began to calm down. His wounds began to heal. The purple youki that covered him began to slowly fade along with the markings. The anger and adrenaline also faded as Raki fell to his knees.

"Well, it's over huh."

"W-What do you mean?"

The demon smirked.

"This test was to see if you could bring out your own youki. If you failed then you would have died. As would I. But clearly we have nothing to worry about." He drawled, annoyingly confident despite his defeat.

"What do you mean…I don't understand? You mean to tell me…All this was a test?"

The demon smirked as he raised his arm up. "I'm your demonic half…the half that is naturally more powerful, however Priscilla's blood is too much even for me. It's like a chain that restrains me from eating you, it balances us."

His smirk widened. "I know I can't possibly overpower Priscilla, even if it's merely what comes from samples of her blood…my own strength is limited to what was applied to me and even if Isley, Rigardo, and Dauf are no pushovers, they're all weak in front of Priscilla. You, who are the king on top of his horse, only your will can make us stronger. If you swear to get stronger than I swear to carry your weight. I will be the pillar of your strength and your will!"

He stared into the human half's eyes as his grey skin faded to reveal a human form nearly identical to Raki's. The only difference was that his hair was silver-white.

"As for the test…Yeah, it was to force you into a life and death situation to bring out your new youki. You're an adult so the process of tapping into your raw youki is actually harder for you. All I did was to make you summon it. Now, there isn't much time left so I don't want to hear you bitch at me as I go."

"Go where?"

The demon's smirk grew wider \.

"Since you won…" he trailed off as the sword in his chest faded and he started to vanish, feet first into black powdery mist, which began to gather around Raki.

"Well, this game is over…for now. By absorbing me back into yourself, you have abandoned all of your humanity, now we are a Cursed One. A Cursed Being. A new breed of warrior that might be the strongest there is."

"A Cursed One…What the hell…?"

"We're not Claymores who are made through surgery, nor are we Awakened Beings who are those who lost control and changed permanently. We can change forms at will and we have no urge to eat human flesh. We are content with normal food yet our power will turn is into a monster…but have complete control over our power."

Raki stared at the vanishing demon and asked. "What is your name?"

The demon smirked and bellowed out laughing.

"What good is a name for me? I got no name… Raki is enough." Said the demon as the last bit of his chin faded. His black and yellow eyes stared right into Raki's own brown ones till the very end.

Raki said nothing as the demon faded back into him. Every last bits of the black powders absorbed back into his own body. He felt the strange and yet familiar feel of youki flow into his body. The strange mark on his neck pulsed in response to the foreign energy. It hummed against him, as if it was singing. And then… he understood all. His mind felt like a dam had been removed and water allowed to flow again. He understood all there was to his new body as if he had always known unconsciously known it. His brain deciphered all his abilities. All the information just flowed into his mind.

Raki stared at his hands. He felt a burning sensation on his chest and clinched it in pain. He quickly pulled off his shirt and saw a mark on my chest. It was a familiar black mark in the shape of three bladed windmills. "The Dead Bone Pulse…" he muttered.

"This is my power now…" whispered Raki as he brought his youki to the surface and watched the curved blade marks spread across his chest…he realized this was his equivalent to when a Claymore's eyes glow gold. By using around 10% of his youkis it seems the mark will respond.

According to what Isley had told him, and what he now knew about his abilities, there were two types of Claymores. Offensive types who value attacking power and defensive types, who value regeneration and durability. He is a defensive type…So he has greater regeneration along with sensory abilities, in exchange for greater offensive power.

"The powers of Isley, Rigardo, and Dauf…I can do this."

(Raki POV)

I recalled how the demon had done this…my mind and instincts told me to mold the youki in the shape I desired. I imagined a sharp blade, visualized its location, and then pictured it coming out of my shoulder.

I felt the bones under me shift and turn. I felt nauseated at all the unfamiliar sensations, and felt a fair bit of pain as it brought itself out from my shoulder…however it seemed that I could null the pain mentally. I grabbed the wet and hardened piece of my skeleton and slowly pulled it out. I had experience with swords and I had many accidents during training. One time I had a dagger buried in my leg and pulling that out hurt less than this. After a minute I fully extracted the newly made sword out. The hole quickly healed. I even felt a new shoulder bone growing extremely fast to replace the one I pulled out.

I looked over the weapon I'd pulled out. It was white and around two feet long. The handle was just bone, but the other side was roughly made. It had jagged edges and it didn't seem sharp enough to stab through Awakened Beings. Compared to my evil half's my own bone sword was crap. It seems I needed more practice.

I looked around the throne room. In here I realized time flowed slower than in the real world…in his mind he can train. Here I will get stronger…Then I can search for her again. As my resolve solidified excitement filled my entire being.

I saw my body slowly being covered in blade like marks…at least I knew where to start in practicing. In my mind I was in the throne room. I will practice with my power and master it.

* * *

(Day unknown)

Isley walked toward the chamber…two weeks have passed and now the untameable youki emitting from the room calmed…now it is the moment of truth.

Isley held the door knob that prevented Raki from reaching the outside world. Behind this door is one of his few true friends and his student. He might have died, he might have gone insane, or worse…Regardless of the result, if necessary, as promised he will kill Raki.

"Raki…I am opening the door."

"…Come in."

"?" Isley was startled by the clear answer.

The Silver King opened the door and revealed his apprentice. The sight surprised him.

"Raki…you didn't change?"

In front of him was Raki, but he looked the same as before, his hair and his eyes were still brown and his body looked the same.

"What happened?"

"I subdued him…I won."

Raki looked up to me. His eyes were tired, but his resolve was still intact.

"All the evil and the monstrous impulse in that solution…I made them submit to me." He looked up to face his mentor eye to eye. He posture was firm and his stance devoid of any weaknesses.

"This curse…it is mine to control."

Raki walked toward the door and walked out…he needed more practice and what better place to practice than the real world with real, life targets.

The Silver King of the North stared at his student and chuckled. Is seems he had created a whole new piece in this chess board with the Organization and the Abyssal Ones. Well…he had better check on Raki, Priscilla was bored out of her little mind since he disappeared and he might have his hands full with her. Also, a good home cooking from Raki was a well missed treat.

(1 year later)

Raki was standing in the middle of a valley. It rippled with rocks, trees and rivers from miles away. He was topless and wearing a tight blue suit with armor over it from waist down. It was actually a left over from the male generation.

He was panting, a clear sign of his weariness. On his chest was a small three bladed wind miles tattoos, however the most noticeable thing was that left side of his chest was grey. The grey colours on his skin fade slowly toward his chest. Raki's right eye was still his normal brown; however his left was a yellow pupil.

As the last bit of the grey skin vanished into the mark on his chest, his remaining eye returned to normal.

"Well, it seems your training paid off Raki." a man sitting on a rock stated. He was none other than Isley of the North.

"Ah…I know I've sure that I gotten strong…Strong enough to bare the title of Abyssal of the South."

Isley nodded.

"I don't want this land for myself anyway, it's all for Priscilla."

Isley was proud of his student, in one year he managed to learn to control his two forms freely. While he was lacking in experience, in strength wise he can rival the old Abyssal of the South. Around the valley lay the destroyed bodies of tens and hundreds of Awakened Beings. They all gathered here to fight Raki.

There were rumours that Isley was relinquishing his title as the lord of the south and that the strongest in the south may rule. With that prize on the line many Awakened appeared. All gathering in the South to fight for the seat amongst the Abyssals. They all were prepared to fight to the death…just not against a tiny, unrecognized male Awakened Being. Only later did they learn it was a new male warrior, made by Isley himself.

The battle, if you can call it that, was a slaughter. Raki unleashed his power and ripped apart all of his opponents. Some were reminded of former servant of Isley, Rigardo the Sliver Eyed Lion King. Some thought he was the recreation of Isley himself. Some even thought that Raki was a better looking and smarter version of that stupid oaf, Dauf.

Raki slashed, hacked, and bashed all the furious former half youma warriors with his skeletal arsenal. He formed weapons of all shapes from his flesh and bones which he then used to slaughter all of his opponents. Those who lasted to the end even got to see the newest Abyssal's released form…the Dead Bone Pulse in its finest.

He was vengeful as he tore them apart. His swords made of flesh and bones were being weld like a performance of a beautiful dance. Each step was like a luring art work that brought death to the gathered Awakened Beings.

(Flashback)

An insect like Awakened Being dodged an overhead slash from the smaller and more nimble Awakened Being. This insect demon was a former Number 5 of the Organization, Liviana. Her form was a mantis like body with a human face and chest in the front. She had green skin and a green exoskeleton with two bladed scythes for her front limbs.

She squelched in anger as this little bastard was cutting up all the Awakened Beings gathered there with little effort.

"Why you! Stand still!" she yelled slashing down the smaller monster, however the smaller Awaken simple dodged her slash and pointed his fingers at her.

"Teshi Sendan!(Ten Finger Drilling Bullets!)" Yelled out Raki as hardened bones from his fingertips shot at his enemy, their spinning motion increasing their power.

The spinning bone bullets tore through Liviana's hardened skin as if it was paper. And they left behind small fragments of poisonous yoki as they exited her body. While not life threatening at the moment, it was without a doubt a hindrance she could do without.

She wailed in pain; however she was cut short as Raki landed on her head and simply slammed his fist into her skull, smashing through muscle and bone. Raki's strength was beyond exceptional. Liviana struggled even with the fist embedded in her skull; however Raki ended her misery by curling the fingers of the hand in her head and shooting his finger bone bullets in every direction, ripping her cranium apart.

Raki barely had time to give her a parting glance as he somersaulted to dodge the attacks from other animal like Awakened beings. He ducked low to avoid a swipe from a claw and rolled to the side to dodge a finger projectile by another. He pulled out a bone sword from his shoulder to parry a slash from a centipede like Awakened Being's clawed legs, and then blocked a claw attack from a mutant humanoid Awakened Being.

"Simple enough…" He muttered as he jumped on top of the centipede woman's body and nailed her side with several bones. As she roared in pain, a pointy bone dagger emerged in his palm, and he slammed it into her head. As for the other Awakened Being, Raki simple launched off his dagger, which turned out to be more along the lines of a spear as the rest of it erupted from his arm, spiking into the offending Awakened Beings's eyes and tore off his throat. The mutant was finished off with an overhead slash from Raki as he jumped off the centipede's head and killed the mutant with a single, clean cut.

Raki landed on the bloody ground softly and stared into the eyes of his remaining enemies.

"GET HIM!"

"KILL THAT LITTLE SHIT!"

Raki was not phased as he spun, ducked, slid and dodged all the attacks aimed at him and returned fire with his finger bullets. Again and again he fired, slowly but steadily whittling down the numbers of his opponents.

More agile and faster Awakens launched a group assault on the lone warrior; however they were greeted with sudden growth of bone blades from the warrior's shoulders, hand, elbows, knees, and back of the heels.

"Yanagi no Mai(Dance of the Willow)!" stated the scarred warrior as he flew into the battle dancing around like willow leaf in the wind, zipping from one spot to another in, a hurricane like blur, slicing enemies from left to right with the simplest movements. The willow leaf simply floats to where the wind blows…and Raki's wind was his enemies.

Half of Raki's chest and face were covered by the blade like marks emerging from the primary symbol. The more youki that emerged from his body, the more the markings spread.

The smarter Awakened Beings stayed at a distance and launched various kinds of projectiles at him.

Raki began to shift around and over. His every spin and turn narrowly dodged or allowed him to parry the attacks, and as such he didn't get a scratch. He slowly approached the remaining group, all the while causally dodging their ranged assault. There were only five Awakened Beings left and they were stronger than most of the others…or simple smarter than to engage him with no plan.

The remaining former Claymores were careful, they didn't care for the title anymore, they simply wanted to live.

"Hit him! Hit him!"

Raki's tattoos began to cover his entire frame.

"This is a good time…to test out this form in its strongest."

Raki's youki intensified as the black blade marking covering his entire body slowly smeared and blended together to turn grey. Raki's eyes darkened and his brown pupils turned yellow. His shaggy hairs turned sliver white and it started to extend down to his back. The lone warrior's once red lips turned purple. Raki tugged his armour off and removed the top half of his suit leaving the parts below his hips. His dark and muscled body was releasing a powerful, intense and aggressive youki.

Ever since he gained his power Raki noticed that unlike normal Claymores or Awakened beings, his power has two stages only. One was when he used ten percent of his youki, and the marking spread across part of his body. But as soon as he released over fifty percent his skin turned grey and he gained a skeletal tail, trunk like bones on his back and shoulders, and numerous sharp, curved bones in his legs and arms.

In his final stage his defensive power is at its peak and his flesh is hardened to the point that no one lacking high level single digit physical strength, not counting various special abilities, could penetrate it. In addition his bone manipulating abilities were speeded up by many times. His regeneration improved considerably. And of course his overall physical abilities shot up.

One of the remaining large Awakened Beings charged at him, a fist ready to smash the smaller warrior; however the offending punch was block…By a large flat bone shield.

"W-What?"

Raki removed his shield and created a long bone spear from his entire arm. The long spear flew and impaled the Awakened beings in its chest.

"Not yet…" the bones on Raki'ssShoulder extended and stabbed into his current enemy, killing him. Another came at him with her giant mouth opened to chomp down on him.

Raki covered the palms of his hands with a layer of bones. The moment the Awaken ate him, he grabbed the teeth chomping at him and held it open with his arms and feet.

"…My turn." Said Raki as he formed a bone blade from his tail and used his longest limb to navigate inside the Awakened Being's mouth and reach the brain.

"GUUUAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"…Shut up…"

_Whoosh! Palck!_

The giant fell to the ground, now lacking a mind.

Raki jumped out of the dead monster's mouth and ran toward the remaining Awakens.

"No!"

A few minutes later Raki was was gazing down at a female Awakened Being lying on her side…Her limbs were torn off and her body impalled to the floor by bone swords.

"You…Who are you?" Groan out the dying former claymore.

"…The Second Abyssal of the South…Raki the Gouging Spearhead."

The test or the Slaughter of the Southern Mountain would be the starting point of Raki the Gouging Spearhead's legend. A place where the newest Abyssal of the South was officially declared.

(Flashback End)

"Isley…lets go." said the newest Abyssal One as he donned his discarded armor and clothing. It was almost time for dinner and Priscilla must be waiting for them...Hopefully where they left her.

"Ah, you must be tired. Priscilla should be waiting for us by the river across this mountain." the Silver King said, following his student.

The two human like demons walked away from the battlefield.

Now there was no force that could stand a chance against them.

No Riful, no Organization, certainly not humans.

* * *

(One Year later)

Raki ran across the field as he sliced through another one of the…things. They had the perverted forms of women. Their eyes were bound with stiches, blinding them. They They wore rags, leaving most of their bodies exposed. They were more ferocious than anything, even an Awakened Being. About a week ago they attacked the three companions. Isley and himself fought them off rather easily multiple times, however as time passed the monsters slowly became better at fighting them. They adapted again and again. Raki had sliced apart these monsters hundreds of times now, but nothing short of destroying their heads could truly kill them.

"There's no end to them." Raki muttered as he sliced apart another mosnter. Isley was on the other side with his arm in the form of a bow. He fired another volley of flesh made arrows, but while several suffered severe damage, and many more were sent flying and suffered smaller injuries from the arrows' impacts, most didn't manage to hit any heads, because the monsters had learned to protect them, and not allow them to take killing blows.

Raki's face was suddenly covered by the black marks, which showed his frustration as he began to unconsciously release more youki. Raki pulled out a white halberd, which was made of his bone.

The halberd was at least three meters long with a large, diamond edged blade on the top with two inner crescent moon shaped blades on the two sides. For a weapon made of bones it was unusually aesthetic, and appeared to be almost like a steel forged weapon in shape.

Raki was a skilled swordsman; however he knew that a spearman has the advantage against a sword welding enemy. He can wield a spear well enough…And after he gained his youki he could fight against a warrior with skill alone.

Raki spun the weapon over his head and slashed through the torso of another monster, however, this one didn't retreat, and healed in the blink of an eye. It jumped, but in an air-cutting swing, the monster was split into two pieces, only for another to take its place, and this one somehow formed a blade on its hand.

The monster swung its arm wildly, slowly learning how to wield its somewhat improvised weapon properly, and when another joined it and with its own sword arm, they both managed to block Raki's furious, skilled thrusts and swings, though not without countless injuries, none to the head. Raki managed to pull back and swung his halberd lower to the ground, forcing both monsters to jump; in that instant, Raki's launch a devastating series of youki boosted slashed, slicing apart both monsters, and he made sure to destroy their heads.

"Isley! We need to get Priscilla out of here! You need to cover me!" Shouted the former human. He jumped into the air after throwing his halberd into an approaching abomination and pointed his hands towards the them.

"Teshi Sendan!" Yelled out Raki as his fingers released a barrage of skeletal projectiles. The bone bullets were too small and too fast for even these creatures to dodge…for now.

He ran up to pick up his halberd then swung it in a circle to give himself some space to fight. He jabbed and swung the majestic weapon using one wrist as the center of its rotation, then crushing the opponent between the spear's thrust and the smashing swings. He swung his halberd again and this time managed to tear off a leg from an attacking demon and thrust at its head, however the blasted creature bent his head backwards, it's neck contorting at an absurd angle, before it retreated to heal in under ten seconds.

"These creatures have been learning too well. Before we could kill them easily, but now it's hard to even kill one of them!"

Isley didn't move as he stared at the approaching enemies. They had managed to fully kill three of these monsters. All the other ones suffered minor or critical damage only for them to heal again. Cutting them in half was no use unless the head was destroyed as their insane regeneration kept them alive. They would retreat after killing at least five or six of them…with only three down, this fight will only get worse… there is only one thing he can do.

While these creatures may have attacked them out of nowhere…they initially aimed for him and focused on him. Whatever the damned Organization did to them…They were hunting for him, not the other two.

Isley was forced to return to reality as one of the creature jumped at his unguarded back. The Silver King of the North turned and unleashed his lance like claws on the cursed monster as he tried to tear it apart…only for the abomination to dodge and take a chunk out of his limb before being forced to leap away as Isley swung at it. The former male number one morphed his hands into an axe and a clawed talon before letting loose a volley of slashes at the abomination, however the creature fluently weathered his onslaught by contorting its neck and creating various appendages of flesh to block. Isley was relieved of the annoyance as Raki fired off a bone sword at the creature's back, which created an opening for the Silver king to hack the monster into dog food in a quick volley of slices, but several others charged him before he could destroy the head, forcing him to retreat.

Isley glanced at his family that had stayed with him for the last seven years. Raki…he was now almost if not as strong as he himself was. He had matured and was no longer a naïve, powerless boy. Now he was one of the lords of the island. Raki had no problem taking life, whether it was human or Awakened. Those who failed to obey his law in the south paid dearly. For the ten months, no Awakened Being or youma attacked the south. He had ordered all to prey on animals or bandits on the island, never to attack a human settlement. For a few weeks, many tried to defy him. He made swift examples of them, and eventually the dissenters ceased. His rule actually brought some form of peace in the south. Not even the Organization could reach him there. He allowed the Claymores to continue to patrol the land, it didn't bother him.

Priscilla…she was still rather child-like. She continued to cling to Raki as she did when they all first met. She was an important investment…which now turned into a figure of a little sister for the two males. However he feared the day she will truly awaken was near…when that day arrives… not even the two of them together could stop her. He still remembered the day he met her, fought her and lost. His body caved in and half of his limbs destroyed.

He feared for the future…however he needed to insure that there will be future at all first!

Isley unleashed his full power, and his his youki covered his entire form in a brilliant burst of light and energy. From the rising dust and smoke the true appearance of the king had appeared. His centaur like form was as imposing as it was majestic. He was at least ten meters tall, with a black lustre body. He had glowing, icy cold blue eyes, and despite the situation, his stance wcas unwavering.

"RAKI! GET PRISCILLA OUT OF HERE! THESE MONSTERS ARE HUNTING ME, SO GO NOW AND NEVER LOOK BACK!" roared the King of the North as he stomped down one of the abominations. His hoof smashed the wretched being into the ground, and he made sure to grind it to mush

"I-Isley…What are you-"

He was cut off as an arrow that was as tall and thick as a stone pillar shot at him faster than most beings could react to. Raki dodged to the side in a blur of motion, then looked up, feeling more hurt and scared than he had in years.

"DON'T' MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF! I WILL LURE THEM AWAY! RAKI! YOU HEAD OUT THERE AND DO WHAT YOU MUST!" roared out the strongest Abyssal as he turned toward the remaining demons.

Isley charged toward the monsters, his hooves shaking the earth as his form became nothing more than a blur to untrained eyes, with his arms morphed into a shield and a lance. Like a knight on horseback, he dashed through the remaining enemies, ripping most of them into various pieces as he passed, though none were put down permanently. As they jumped to reach him, he bashed two aside with his flesh made shield and skewered another with his lance. Without stopping or turning back he rode away, leading the Abyss Feeders with him.

Raki gazed at the rapidly fading form of his master, but did nothing…he wasn't strong enough yet.

The two remaining companions left on a journey...A warrior who allowed a child to tag along. The two would travel to allow Raki to find Clare and stay away from those monsters. He might be new...But the south was his land to command.

The Abyssal of the Gouging Spearhead and the southern lands turned towards the direction his mentor had ran off to. He gave a silent prayer, hoping to see him again.

Several months later…The Ghosts of Pieta left their hiding ground.


	2. Chapter 2

FINALLLY! MY FINALS ARE OVER!

God! That is the last time I take two classes in a single Summer Sumester.

So to show you how happy I am...HERE IS CH2 FOR THE USUALLY RATHER SLOW CLAYMORE FANFIC! DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW YO!

* * *

Ch2 Cruel Reunion

* * *

A Claymore with unusually colored short brown hair stared at the scene before her, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open….it was a slaughter.

She had not expected this to happen. First she was sent to the North only to witness the vast difference between Awakened Beings and Claymores. She then returned to the Organization after somehow surviving the assault.

As soon as she returned she was assigned to work with the unstable Number 4 warrior, Miata.

If the difference between her and common youma was very large than this child who suckled on her breast was as far from them as the distance between heaven and earth.

She'd known that the child held her position as Number 4 for a reason and her skill in combat was superior to her in so many ways that she was nothing compared to the little girl with long blond hair that tended to cover eyes.

But Number 47 Clarice hadn't realized just how far apart they were in terms of abilities…

Weaponless…This little girl who is covered in the purple blood of youma…The same girl who had temporarily discarded her armor, making her diminutive figure and young age even more apparent. The same girl who is hugging her and murmuring over and over again the title she'd bestowed upon the warrior she'd adopted as a parental figure. "Mama". …She'd slaughtered most of their monstrous assailants with her bare hands.

Clarice's body was trembling slightly, while her mind was struggling between terror at what she'd just witnessed, and maternal concern and care for the first person to have ever treated her with such affection.

Almost of her own accord, her left arm, which had been limp at her side, slowly rose, and her hand settled on the back of Miata's head. Suddenly conscious of her actions, Clarice hesitated for an instant, before bring her right arm around the child while she began to slowly stroke Miata's hair.

That was the first time they fought together, and it wouldn't be the last. As they traveled onwards towards their target, they fought Awakened Beings and youma time and again, but always remained on track thanks to Miata's greatly enhanced five senses. Their target, was former Number 3, Galatea.

They had recently reached the outskirts of the Holy City of Rabona…Where Miata can smell the presence of a powerful Claymore…And…A hint of something else?

"Don't worry Miata…We will hunt down Galatea…"

* * *

(Meanwhile…)

A group of four Claymores, all dressed in black, the Ghosts of Pieta, were quickly running through the trees to get away from a certain monster…Riful of the West.

Well…That's what they were supposed to be doing anyway…

Miria, Helen, and Deneve, all of whom was carrying an unconscious Organization warrior, stopped to look back upon realizing their most troublesome member had stayed behind.

"Che! That idiot!" Helen shouted.

Miria and Deneve shared a worried look. While Riful had not attacked Clare yet

"Oh?" The Abyssal One raised a non-existent brow as she stared at a lone Claymore with short silver blond hair and silver eyes.

"You stayed behind?"

"There is something I want to ask you…Riful of the West." the lone warrior replied.

"Ah?" Something clicked inside Riful as realization struck

"Oh, it's you…I remember you. That's right; you fought Duff 7 years ago. You were one of three at the time."

Riful smiled, leaning the humanoid portion of her body forward as she did so.

"That sure takes me back. How are the other two? I am especially curious about the one with long hair. That girl was very interesting."

"That is none of your concern."

"Gosh, that is quite an attitude. Is it one that someone asking for a favor should have?"

Clare was silent for a moment.

"One is them is dead…Another, the long haired one I haven't seen in a while."

"Oh, how regrettable. She was such a good girl." Riful cooed. "So? What is it that you want to ask?"

"…Seven years ago, a horde of Awakened Beings invaded from the North and struck the South and the East. I want to know what happened since then. I want to know the status quo between the Abyssal Ones and the Organization."

Mirira, Helen, and Deneve's eyes widened as they realized their troublesome comrade's intent.

"Ahahahaha. I see…Now I understand."

Riful smiled in all knowing manner.

"You hide yourself for 7 years, severing all contact with the outside world…And during that time you somehow mastered concealing your youki. And from what you're telling me, it seems you participated in the battle up North against Isley's army and somehow managed to create a façade of total annihilation to hide your survival to the organization." Riful stated jauntily.

"Well, I won't ask for more detail since that is long time ago, but…If you want something from me, I have a condition."

"A condition?"

All of Clare's comrades hiding in the trees and listening felt their pulses quicken.

"I want you to become my ally." Riful stated.

Miria and Deneve's eyes widened, while Helen flat out gaped, a short exclamation escaping her that Riful fortunately did not hear.

"I am in need of someone who can sense and control youki energy very precisely like the long haired girl, but if I remember correctly youki sensing is your forte too. And I remember telling you that the fastest way to achieve your revenge was to join me. Really, I am offering you a great deal. After all, your enemy is that woman and that woman is protected by _those men_."

"Men?"

"I will say no more unless you agree."

"…Very well, I'll consider it." Clare stated. Her face gave nothing away.

Her comrades were startled, but only Helen let out a 'What?'

Riful smiled. Her smile seemed so gentle, but ill intent was flowing off of her like waves of sea. The First female Abyss' body coiled and flicked her body.

"Excellent…Alright I'll tell you."

Riful looked up into the sky as she began.

"There were a total of 23 Awakened Beings under Isley's command in the Northern Invasion. 11 went to the East and 12 came down to the West toward me. And finally Isley himself headed South to face the Abyssal of the South, Luciela."

Riful frowned.

"I destroyed the invaders myself with Duff, and Isley was victorious against Luciela. The remaining Awakened Beings that headed East were annihilated as well."

"What? I can understand the West, but the Organization as well? How-?"

"Oh? You didn't know? The organization is sly and has no oversights. Without letting us notice, they created a warrior capable of taking on an Abyssal One, a new Abyssal One if you will."

"So in the end-"

"In the end there were still three Abyssal Ones at the time."

"So when Isley defeated the Abyssal of the South why didn't you try to kill Isley while he was weakened?"

That is the next logical step…The 3 Abyssals managed to maintain their balance because despite the ages and experience that separates them, their power levels are close to each other. So even if one 'win' a battle between them…It will never be a clean victory.

And a wounded prey so an appetizing prey.

Riful let out a short grunt filled with bitter amusement.

"You're very bright…I did go after Isley. A battle between Abyssal Ones is a battle to the death. Even though Isley was victorious he was still gravely injured. I didn't have any grudge against the man, but it was a chance of a life time. He was acting very capricious at the time, so killing him when he was weak had merit…However, when I got there…The chance was right in front of me…if it wasn't for that thing…"

"'That thing'?"

Riful was silent for a moment, her mind going back to that day. The shattered landscape, the torn up ground, the huge clouds of dust that had yet to disperse. An unclothed man with long white hair, on his knees, heavily wounded…And that **_woman. _**Short in height, brown hair, wearing a worn dress…and emitting so much youki that Riful was, for several moments, frozen in shock, and fear.

_"No one…can kill Priscilla now" _Isley's voice echoed in her mind.

Riful opened her eyes.

"There was nothing I could do…That woman was stronger than me."

This was without a doubt the most shocking revelation revealed to the Ghosts today. All three of Clare's hidden comrades were gaping in various states of shock. Even Clare, who had long known that Priscilla was extremely powerful, had the slightest hint of surprise on her otherwise impassive face.

"The rumor of Isley beating her and making her his was a false rumor made by the Silver Haired King himself. He actually lost to her and submitted himself as her general. If there was any chance of beating her it would have been me and Luciela working together, but anticipating this, Isley made the first move. And now they hold the power to rule all the land anytime they want…Even without their other comrade."

"What?"

"Do you recall me mentioning how there were still three great powers despite Luciela dying…? Well, that was true until 2 years ago."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there is another, the fourth power in the land. The new Abyssal of the South."

"Does that mean Isley lost control of the South to another?"

"No, more like he given away the control of that land to another. The fortune smiled on that man in such biased manner that he gained such a powerful follower. If you girl don't know I heard that his second in command, Rigaldo the Silver Eyed Lion King was killed 7 years ago…Well, now he has a new lieutenant that surpasses the old male Number 2."

"!"

"Stronger-?" began Miria.

"-Than the Lion King?" finished Helen as Deneve remained silent.

"This Abyssal of the South is rather unique. I met him several times in the past to see how strong he was, when Isley and that woman weren't around, of course, and he did not disappoint. Very polite young man, quite handsome, and very powerful."

"A man?" questioned Clare, a brief look of surprise passing over her face "As in one of the old male generation? Was there a survivor of the Northern Invasion?"

"Oh, no. I might not have met, known, or remembered every male Claymore, but I would have remembered one with his potential. And given the fact that he appeared out of nowhere two years ago, I would surmise that he is a very recently created-and Awoken-warrior."

"You mean the organization restarted the male program?"

"Nope, that's not it either. There is no way those crafty old men would risk it. This is most likely done by Isley to increase his military might. He has a fixation of being a king after all and what king has no army to weld?"

"What is this Awakened Being's name?"

"Ah ah ah…This is a give and take. I did plenty of giving and now I want to tell you of the job I need you to do for me."

"I refuse."

"Huh? But I believe we had a deal?"

"I recall telling you I would consider it…And I decline."

Riful stared at her with her glowing green eyes.

"…I expected this kind of response from you…it seems your personality has taken a turn for the worse since then…Or was it always like this?"

"Most likely the latter. But thanks for the information."

"I could always cut off your arms and legs and keep the important parts, you know?"

"Too bad that's impossible as well. I have grown stronger since 7 years ago."

"Oh? In those 7 years you grew strong enough to defeat me?" Riful questioned amusedly.

"Even if I can't beat you, I can still escape from here." The moment she finished, Riful's cage of long, tendrils with their exceptionally sharp ends launched at her. Clare blurred into nothingness as she agilely avoided the barrage of appendixes.

Riful swung her thread like spears across the forest to slice through trees, aiming to bisect Clare and keep her top half, but Clare used her new sword technique Windcutter to shred the obstacles and avoid the spears by zipping back and forth.

"You little…STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Riful swiftly brought her body tendrils up and let out a loud 'Kyyyaaaa!' as she launched a massive volley into the forest around her, ripping apart dozens of trees, shattering branches, sending countless leaves to the ground, and ripping up the earth…But she missed her target.

Soon the target of her rage escaped…hiding her youki once more…

"…Gosh this is pathetic…Even after all the effort I put into this I still have yet to harvest a single one." Muttered Riful as her rage and anger was not hidden in her soft voice.

A cruel smile filled with anger swiftly overtook Riful's face.

"Remember this…I will make you pay one way or another."

As she and her friends fled Clare pondered…Who is this Abyssal of the South…? And who is mad enough to serve Isley after being turned into an Awakened Beings by him?

* * *

Several months after his separation from his mentor…Raki found himself in the city he once visited many times in his travels…The Holy City of Rabona.

Well he was not among Rabona and its inhabitants…No; he was deep underneath the city.

The compound he was in was a secret chamber within the main church that Father Vincent lent to him. After it was given to him years ago he redecorated and expanded it further into ground. The secret base is his was made to accommodate many people and to be spacious. It has many ancient and new tunnels that some are dangerous and some are safe after creating a strong support beams made of his bones.

The compound had bedrooms, a supply room, and a living room. Candles were everywhere. The place was so deep underground that it was virtually soundproof and he'd gotten Father Vincent's permission to use as he wished….So this was his secret hideout to avoid the demons that hunted him and Isley.

When he visited the city with Priscilla he only informed Cid and Galk that he was there because of an emergency situation. He wanted to stay out of the city to protect them. Unfortunately, the city was the safest place he could go, and they all knew it.

They asked no questions and took no offense to his secrecy. They most likely suspected something bad was happening to him.

There was another reason why he came to Rabona despite the danger. He need a secluded area… _Chomp!...Schew, Schew…Lick…Scheei, Chomp…_

"Uh…." Raki grunted. He was perfectly capable of handling pain much worse than this, but it didn't mean he liked it. He is being eaten alive after all.

In his hideout's living room Raki was sitting down in a steel chair. He was pale and was gripping the handset with all his might as he tried not to burst out of his seat.

The reason was that Priscilla was naked as the day she was born and kneeling down before him her face near his lower area…NOT DOING WHAT YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT!

She was actually eating the contents of his stomach…The intestines that youma and Awakened Beings crave.

Normally youma and Awakened Beings only go for human intestines because they weren't tainted with youki. However Raki was not a real Awakened Being or Claymore. When not actively using his youki, he was, appearance and presence wise, a normal human.

He emitted very little youki in his current form, making him especially appetizing to Priscilla. Fortunately, she had never shown any inclination to act on her culinary desires.

For the last few years there had been signs of Priscilla's growing cravings…Both Isley and Raki knew she would eventually succumb to her hunger, and there was no guarantee that they could stop her.

So the solution is to feed her live humans…or allow her to eat Raki. This is something that only happened once a year...so Priscilla still retained her child form despite feeding on him once before.

This is risky and dangerous…But for honorable Raki…This is a plan worth looking into.

_Chomp!...__Chew,__Chew…Lick…__Che__w, Chomp…_

Raki would control the direction his youki would be flowing and he would send the flow other way…away from his intestines and stomach so they will be more 'human.'

More 'delicious' he is…the better.

_Chomp!...__Lick, chew…Lick…__Che__w, Chomp…_

Raki would be vulnerable as Priscilla indulged herself, and thus the need for the base underneath Rabona. She was naked because Raki saw no need to pointlessly ruin her clothes. Honestly this is not the first time they did this, so they know the procedure to avoid trouble…but the pain is all the same.

"Raki…Does it hurt?" Priscilla asked with a hint of concern, well hidden behind an innocent tone. Raki smiled easily despite his discomfort

"It's fine. That's it for today Priscilla. Take a step back."

Priscilla nodded as she stepped back her lips dripping with blood.

Raki opened the dam that was holding his youki back and felt his tainted energy filling him up. His body shifted as the youki filled the damaged opening in his stomach and it started to regrow and regenerate.

Raki felt the wound closing, felt the shifting and healing underneath his skin. He would recover faster if he transformed, but releasing his youki spontaneously might alert the monsters and that blind nun…Keeping away from her radar was actually harder than feeding Priscilla.

Fortunately, the other Awakened Being was in the city sewers.

The only reason the blind Claymore didn't sense him was because he used the bare minimum of youki in his healing and used the other Awakened Being's youki to mask himself. He synched his youki with hers to create the same presence and being deep underground helped prevent the nun from finding him.

The other Awakened Being, the nun, and himself…There's a stalemate between them, but it's one only he knows of.

"Hmm!"

Raki looked up as he felt a presence. It was weak…So weak that he barely felt it.

"No Claymore is that weak…suppression medication?" Raki wondered.

Raki was not so skilled that he could sense a warrior's youki under suppression pills from a distance, but his instincts were highly tuned as an Awakened Being in control of himself, and highly skilled warrior. He could pick up the intangible presence that warriors gave off…if they were strong enough of course.

To someone sharp as Raki, hiding one's warrior presence is difficult.

"I sense two fighters…One is pretty weak, but the other…she has a strong, wild presence."

That didn't bode well…The Holy City still has rules against Half-breed warriors despite Father Vincent and the Royal Guardsmen' attempt to be more peaceful…So only reason they are here is by mission like what happened to Clare or…They are here for the blind nun.

"They're taking a risk. If they managed to bypass the guards Cid or Galk might help them out of respect…And if they do fight the nun, the other Awaken might stir because of the commotion. And if she is to be killed…My cover will be ruined."

There isn't much he can do besides killing the Claymores, but he has his rule of not killing warriors…Oh, his softness will get him killed one day.

"…I might have to deal with this myself regardless…But for now"

He'd stay hidden for now. If the blind Claymore is killed he can stay here with no trouble unless either of the two newcomers is an especially sharp sensor. However if Agatha decided to reveal herself, the city would be in danger…And his rule…No Awakened Beings in the South may attack the settlements…Either hunt bandits or move out of his territory…If Agatha wishes to defy him…Than so be it.

He has a reputation to keep after all...

* * *

Clank! BASH! CRASH! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! BOOOM! SMASH! WHOOSH! CLANK!

The sound of metal clashing, walls breaking, and streets being demolished could be heard across the Holy City...The Orphanage near the Curch has now become a battlefield...

NOw why would such place become a battlefield...

Well...

Clarice and Miata had engaged Galatea.

It started off well considering they found help in the Rabona guardsmen Cid and Galk. They even narrowed their search down thanks to the information of the older men and found the nun's residence.

The target was found, and was isolated from the population…All that was left was to use Miata to overwhelm the former Number 3.

However, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

The blind Claymore should have been rusty due to lack of training and combat, however she lived up to her former rank as Number 3. Her sword blurred in her hand as she slashed and stabbed so fast that Clarice couldn't even see the end of one swing to the next.

However, that was not the case for her young companion.

Miata couldn't detect youki, but her 5 enhanced senses served her well in her fight against her senior.

_Clank! Clank! Whoosh! Duck! Clank! Clank! Clank!_

The little Claymore swung and thrust her sword with skill that was clearly outclassed by her opponent, despite the fact that Galatea seemed to be out of practice. Miata's current skill was born of untamed instinct and wild potential, allowing her to keep up, and very slowly overcome, her opponent.

Galatea took her time to make some space between her and the little one, but the wild child refused to back off or give her breathing space.

The blind nun fell back entirely on her sensory skills, seeking a weakness in Miata's assault.

Even the wildest storm had a calm center.

So too will Miata's barrage have one.

…Subtle…Almost invisible…THERE!

_Whoosh!_

Galatea thrust her sword right where her senses told her an opening existed, but to her surprise Miata somehow bent and avoided the thrust! With a gasp, Galatea dodged the return blow.

"Such sharp instincts. You can't sense youki yet you still managed to predict where I would strike…the Organization sent a strong one."

The two continued their battle quickly scaling the wall, fighting for the high ground. Miata didn't care for a height advantage per say, but her instincts told her not to let the blind lady get any advantage. She was already fighting with a handicap, no need to make it more difficult.

Galatea launched a counterattack from above. Her experienced sword strikes aimed for any opening she could detect, but Miata didn't receive her rank for her cuteness and countered accordingly.

However…Galatea smirked as she enhanced her arm muscles with youki and knocked Miata away.

Miata landed on her feet against a wall. She didn't seem fazed by the impact and blasted off the wall.

"MIATA! MAKE SURE NOT TO HURT ANY CIVILIANS!" Clarice shouted, unable to keep pace.

Miata gave no sign of hearing her, but she land on the ground and dashed at Galatea in controlled speed that didn't destroy walls or building by her steps. She managed to catch up and reengage her former coworker. The child warrior grabbed her sword tightly and slashed down with all her small might. The resulting attack was Galatea flying backward this time with a timely block that allowed her to keep her head.

Galatea felt the youki underground…Agatha the Bloody was stirring. It was almost time for an old fashioned Awakened Hunt.

"Hahhh!" she shout as she crossed sword with the younger girl once more.

* * *

"..."

Clank! Whoosh! Bash! BREAK! CLANK! CLANK!

"..."

BOOOM! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

"…I don't believe this." Raki muttered, keeping track of the fight on the surface.

He originally hoped that the Claymores would kill the nun and leave the city, but they were making quite a mess and now that fool Agatha was moving.

"…This is no longer a situation I can simple observe from the dark. If Agatha so blatantly defies me, then she must be punished for breaking my law."

As an Abyssal One he is a symbol of power, but compared to the older Abyssal Ones, he lacks experience and credentials. Even after the Slaughter of the Southern Mountain there were still Awakened Beings that felt a new male Awakened Being was full of hot air.

He needed to enforce his law to show his strength lest the balance made by him and Isley break. And with the demons sent by the Organization out there, he can't risk a war against the former warriors.

"A war with multiple front means thinning out all resources…Essentially it will be an uphill battle." Raki quoted one of Isley's many sayings from his lessons.

Raki turned and saw his little companion sleeping on the soft bed like the child she resembled.

"…I didn't want to risk this. Forgive me Priscilla."

Raki stood up and walked towards the supply closet. He removed the armours hidden in there, modified to expand slightly, enough for a very large human. The feature was needed for his awakened form. The shoulder pads are connected by connected steel chains that could be unhitched, and the small chest plate was detachable with a slight twist to remove the strap…All hand made.

Raki patted down the armour as he headed to the entrance.

_HUMMMMMMMMMMMM!_

"Huh?"

He suddenly detected several new presence…It were nearly invisible and insensible, but he barely felt it...One? HE can only faintly feel one...Nothing hostile and yet familiar... Whatever it is, it is now nearing the city. Strange, he isn't the best sensor yet felt it, despite its obviously far superior stealth skills.

"What's going on now?"

(A few minutes later)

"What's going on now?" Raki repeated as he watched the battle. He was on top of one of the tallest buildings and his enhanced eyes could see great detail even at a distance.

He watched as the unusual brown haired Claymore ran away in fear leaving an injured child and a nun with a missing arm (granted, she was her enemy, but the Awakened Being should have taken priority) to their doom. Hell, the other two had holes all over their bodies and clearly unfit to battle any more.

"How disappointing. But not surprising considering Agatha's power. And since when did Claymores have brown hair?"

He was rather upset at the older Claymore's cowardice. True, she was weak compared to her ward but so was he, astronomically more so before his transformation, but he never backed off from a challenge –or abandoned his little sister figure.

Letting children fight…it's an adult's duty to protect them from harm, not abandon them like a coward.

However, Raki was soon pleasantly surprised at the bravery of the weakest Claymore present. The brunette sneaked back and attacked the Awakened Being from above before darting back and slicing off the tendrils impaling her young friend. Unexpectedly, she burst into tears. She was wailing up a river and…well, she seemed to be questioning her actions, and then…scolding the younger girl? Then she was hugging the child tightly, and they were both wailing.

"…Okay, this is absurdly confusing, but it looks like she isn't all that bad." Raki muttered as he brought an arm up. He concentrated his youki, focusing on his wrist, and the bones beneath the flesh shifted and changed as his wrist bone extended out from his flesh and two curved bones formed on the top and bottom of it, curving in towards him.

It was a bow made out of his bones, with a bowstring formed from his flesh.

In his other hand he focused his youki and from his palm extended a long bone arrow. He grabbed hold of it as the end of it emerged, and set it on the shaft of his bow. It was smooth with a sharp end. However, unlike normal arrows, this one lacked feathers for stabilizing it in flight. Instead it had small holes to decrease wind resistance and a drilled arrowhead to improve its speed, range, power, and accuracy.

An arrow that is not an arrow…A spear that is too short to be a spear…it is a hybrid weapon.

"I'd better finish this…Huh?"

Suddenly, he sensed the faint presences of seven new beings. One of them sped forward, and launched an rather fast barrage of strikes on one of Agatha's rear legs with a sword that was without a doubt a claymore. The appendage was quickly sliced part, the remains falling to the ground.

"What the hell? This feeling...One of them...I felt one of them before...The faint one? I can't believe it...There are seven of them supressing their power and I only felt one of them?"

For Raki who can sense even warriors under medication...this was a shock.

Raki watched curiously as the whole group of warriors gathered on the rooftops before Agatha. They all wore black cloaks with the hoods up, save for the one at the front, who had destroyed Agatha's leg. Her hood was down, and exposed short blond hair.

'Claymores?' Raki wondered.

There was a short pause, and it seemed like words were exchanged, before the warrior at the front threw off her cloak, revealing a black uniform, one that was NOT worn by the Organization's warriors. Her comrades scattered, darting around before converging on Agatha from various sides, dodging the tendrils with a good deal of ease. Tendrils also shot at the uncloaked warrior at high speed, but when they were merely about a yard away, the aforementioned woman sliced them to pieces with the same speed that destroyed Agatha's first leg. It had to be some sort of technique. Despite the odd attire, the uncloaked warrior seemed familiar-Ah she is one he felt from the group...Perhaps she is the worst of them in energy control?

However...Raki felt his mind going blank…She was…familiar...very familiar. He closed his eyes for an instant, before opening them again and focusing all his senses on the oh-so-familiar warrior, her image, her scent, her presence, everything. She leaped forward, and her image froze in his mind, captured by his full focus.

"It can't be…"

It was her…

"Clare?"

There was no mistaking it…That hair, that face, that calm look…The way she carries herself…The familiar sensation…

"Clare…To think I'd run into you in a situation like this after 7 years…Gods of Rabona, your blessing is much like a curse…Of all the times you return her to me, it's a time of hiding and desperation…How kind yet cruel of you."

_Whoosh! Clank! Clank! Whoosh! Oosh! Resshh! Schissh!_

In an instant, the rest of her crab-like body's legs were destroyed by the seven black warriors, all armed with Claymores, bringing her central mass and her humanoid form to the ground. As the warriors approached her, now all uncloaked, and wearing the same uniform as Clare, slithery masses of flesh rose from what remained of the crab form and enveloped Agatha, merging and morphing into her true, enormous humanoid form.

The battle resumed, but it soon became clear that her defeat was inevitable, as the black warriors took apart her true form piece by piece, before her real, human body was completely exposed. It was time to end this.

"One's rule must be enforced…right Isley?" He muttered to himself.

He approached, quickly but stealthily, when suddenly Agatha managed to outpace the attacking Claymores and take the blind nun hostage!

"How unsightly Agatha…In the end you shame yourself." Raki muttered, shaking his head in disappointment. He watched as Agatha faced off against Clare with her living shield.

Raki notched his arrow. He pulled it back and took aim.

His sight wasn't perfect…And the nun was still being used as a shield.

But archery was not aiming and shooting, but envisioning the target being pierced before the arrow leaves the bow.

He aimed…And envisioned his projectile impaling Agatha's side, leaving the nun unharmed.

_Whoosh! _

_Schick!_

"Gaaauhhhh!"

And his will was done.

* * *

Clare was startled as a moment before she could unleash her Windcutter on the Awakened Being, something long, and white, slammed into its side, plunging through her body and out the other side. The force, and apparent pain, given the exclamation that burst from Agatha's lips, caused her to let go of Galatea who immediately leaped to the side. Clare didn't think, merely reacted, and moved to finish her assault on the Awakened Being.

Agatha's terrified and confused eyes stared back at her. Clare's sword comes down.

_Whoosh! Whoosh Whosh!_

But Lady Luck decided otherwise.

Clare was suddenly forced to redirect her sword to deflect more arrows and thus abandon her attack. Even though she was using the windcutter, the force of the arrows striking her blade sent small jolts of pain down her arms.

"What?"

Clare leaped back as arrow after arrow came flying at her-wait, no, after she had gotten several more yards away, she noticed that none of the arrows were following her. They were all flying at Agatha. The small volley stopped, giving everyone a chance to come to grips with what just happened.

Agatha had multiple large holes in her form, torn flesh hanging off them, and blood pooling around her feet. Her back, left shoulder, thigh, and right leg were pierced by white arrows with an odd shape and made of a strange material. The shaft of the arrow was as thick as the blade tip. Multiple other arrows were scattered around her, small craters marking some of their impact points.

Clare and the other Claymores noticed, despite their shock and bewilderment at this surprising turn of events, that Agatha turned pale as she stared at the arrows in her body and the arrows that Clare had to block.

She grabbed the arrow stuck in her thigh and pulled it out, disregarding the flesh being torn from her recklessness. She stared at the projectile in her hand and became white as a ghost…Her hands trembled and her knees shook. Her emotions were running haywire.

"No…Why? Why are you here? You weren't supposed TO BE HE-! Her steadily rising voice was cut off as another arrow buried itself in her heart.

The force of the arrow impaling her threw her forward…Shaking on her feet and unbalanced. To her the world slowed down as all sounds faded…All the faces around her were blurs and meaningless…

"…No…"

The arrow was delivered so fast that she couldn't react and the beautiful Awakened Being stared at her punctured chest.

She touched the white pole with shaking fingers in disbelief.

"Ahhh….Gahhhhhaaaa….I…I can…heal this….I can…survi…Wait!"

Agatha tried to use her regeneration to push the arrow out and heal herself, but her muscles weren't functioning properly…Actually the parts of her body that were impaled or injured from the arrows were sluggish and weak.

"AGGGH!" Agatha screamed, but she couldn't remove the arrow from her chest. It was strange considering that her only weakness should be her real head attached to her real body.

But that didn't seem to be the case as Agatha desperately tried to remove the arrow. The reason for her panic revealed itself as flesh around Agatha's wound began to rot and decompose…It was the same with the other arrows imbedded in her flesh. The arrows' youkis seemed to be interfering with Agatha's regenerative powers, as well as destroying her flesh from the inside, like some sort of poison.

The Claymores watched, spellbound as Agatha bellowed and roared as her body was slowly destroyed.

"NO! Spare me! Please spare me! NO! Please!" Agatha shrieked, but no reply came…In the form of words.

_Whoooosh!_

Her cries were ended by an arrow to her head…She was killed and she didn't feel a thing.

A merciful death for a monster…Not many of her kind can say that they didn't notice they died until they were in the afterlife.

For a few seconds, all was still. Then the Ghosts of Pieta snapped in combat positions, and began searching, with both eyes and youki sensing, for the elusive archer. However, no more arrows were forthcoming, but they didn't relax.

"Tabitha!"

"…I can feel a faint trace of youki to the North of our current location…But, Captain…"

"What is it Tabitha?"

"The one I felt…He feels different."

"He? Different?"

"Yes…It definitely felt like a male, considering the roughness and the unique sensation the male youki produces, but there is something else…That I can't quite put my finger on."

As a sensor Tabitha had the ability to sense every detail and sensation within youki. Male Awakened Beings in general release a lot of youki with no restraint because they feel due to the immensely pleasing sensation of Awakening. Both male and female Awakened Beings release their energy freely, but the males' textures are more rough and bristling than females.

Only those who have fought in the presence of male Awakened Beings, and even then only good sensors, can pick up the detail.

However, what Tabitha felt had a male signature, but the youki felt…more tamed? It is a sensation she'd never felt before.

"Is he close enough for use to catch him?"

"No…He's too fast, I can't keep up…No…Wait! It hid itself! The last confirmed direction…East…! Towards the church!"

At that point some of the humans approached the Claymores. Cid and Galk walked up to Clare for old time's sake, but when they heard someone was heading toward the church they recalled something.

"East? What about the East?" Galk asked, but suddenly his partner clapped his fist onto his palm.

"Wait a minute. Speaking of the eastern part of the city, Galk, isn't that where Raki's staying? We should tell him Clare's here."

"Yeah."

At that moment Clare turned to Cid.

"Raki?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you because of the mess, but the kid's here in Rabona. He's actually at the church to the east…I hope he didn't get hurt because of the youma attack." Cid said good-naturedly.

Clare was moving before Cid had finished speaking, the rest of the Claymores following behind her.

* * *

"I'm being chased….Damn it…" muttered Raki as he supressed his power as much as he could, but once a good sensor catches his signature, well, that's when he's in trouble.

He reached his hideout soon enough and felt that he still had about 5 minutes, more than enough time.

Raki walked towards a wall and pressed block that sunk inwards. The wall shuddered once before slowly twisting, and revealed an entranceway. He quickly entered and dashed through the passageway. He unlit every candle he passed with a dash of wind. It'd buy him a little time.

"Raki…"

He looked to the side and saw his little and dangerous companion.

"Hi there, Priscilla…" He kneeled in front of her. "You wanna go further south?"

The brown haired girl stared and slowly nodded. Raki patted her head with a smile.

"Okay, let's go. Go to my room and get my pack. I need to visit the armoury."

"Okay…" Priscilla walked toward another room to get her bag. A she left, Raki walked to the armoury. Inside were multiple human forged weapons, on one wall. They were useless to him in the long run.

His true weapons weren't. Raki reached forward and began pulling out bones arrows. Their tips came in a variety of shapes, all designed to make them more difficult to pull out of the victim's flesh. He also had numerous arrows with tips the same as Clare's symbol.

Raki smiled as he picked up a quiver. He came here for the arrows. He could form all the weapons he needed himself. The remaining weapons weren't for him.

Suddenly a group of regular youma appeared around him. The one in the front kneeled before him.

"Raki-sama, your orders?"

"Vodka…"

He'd spared these youma from the wild in exchange for their service. They were spies and informants in his land and those under his service are not killed by him and are fed human intestines from bandits, criminals, thieves, or rapists. On occasion any business tyrant that earns Raki's notice.

Among them is Vodka, the leader of this group of youma under his command.

"Take your team and arm yourselves. Protect the hallway for as long as you can without getting annihilated. Defeating the pursuers is not your goal. Use my bones to disrupt their senses and use the narrow hallways to your advantage. Retreat using the secret escape route."

"Hai!"

Raki dashed off to get Priscilla…it seems they'd have to hit the road and Isley…Wherever he may be.

* * *

When the assorted Claymores found the entrance they were met by a dark hallway.

"Wow…This pretty much screams lair of a bad guy huh Miria-nee?" Helen quipped jokingly.

However, the Phantom was silent as her senses told her there was a large concentration youki…and for the youki seemed to be spread throughout the tunnel. The closer she got to the hallway the more her senses were muddled. A very handy defence mechanism.

Clare turned to Galk and Cid as they approached.

"You're sure Raki is here?"

Cid was confused but nodded. "Yeah. This secret passageway was originally built as a safe house or an escape route for the priests if necessary. It's built to be confusing and complex, and to last."

Galk turned to the entrance frowning, having noticed the unease on the faces of the various Claymores.

"However, it was so old that none of the newer priests knew about it. Since it was unused, Father Vincent had no problem giving it to Raki when he asked for a safe place, hidden even from the Organization. This place always gives me the creeps, but he liked it." Galk said, staring at the entrance.

The Ghosts, nodded to each other, silently agreeing to not inform the men about the youki coming from the entrance.

The Claymores steadied themselves and went in. At first they planned to leave Miata and Clarice behind, but Clarice pointed out that, Miata's senses wouldn't be fooled even if youki senses were. Miria didn't really want to, but Clare seemed to be ready to head off on her own, so she accepted.

With the current Number 4 in the front, the group of Claymores marched into the passageway.

They paced themselves to not move too fast or too slow. With Miata in the front as their foremost sensor and Clare, Tabitha, and Galatea helping as best they could in the youki damping field. Everyone but Miata held torches to light the. Miata had her enhanced senses, and needed both arms free since she was at the front, and would be the first to engage any attacking enemies.

The sounds of their footsteps echoed in the fairly dark hall. "Huh? What are these?" asked Helen as she found the hallways filled with white pole of some kind. They were all over the wall as they ran.

"These…poles….They're emitting youki." Reported Tabitha as Galatea and Clare's tensed slightly in recognition.

It was familiar…They'd both seen this before. This is the same method the Witch of the West used in her lair with her lover.

'So this was the source of the youki concentration that was ruining our senses, but these…are not Duff's.' Clare pondered.

'But they're as effective as that male Awakened Being's from years ago.' Galatea thought.

They continued on for two full minutes before Miata abruptly stopped.

Clarice spoke up. "Miata?"

"…Youma…mama, there are youma ahead."

As she spoke five youma appeared in front of them. They were lined up side by side in the hallway.

Miria immediately noticed her side's advantage in numbers…as well as the white bone like weapons in the youma hands.

They held spiked skeletal spears and swords in ready positions. The one in the middle, a youma with a scar across his face gritted his teeth. It was Vodka.

"Hear me, Claymores! I am Vodka and we are the servants of the Gouging Spearhead, the Abyssal of the South himself! We are ordered to protect his hallways and his home! All those who invade are the enemy of the South! You have been warned!"

The Claymores were surprised at his words, but did not falter. They came here to track an Awakened Being, but instead find the underlings of an Abyssal. They could work with that.

The loudmouth ran her mouth first.

"HA! Chump change like you is nothing compared to Awakened Beings, and we've been fighting and killing them for years!

Several of the youma simply grinned, baring sharp teeth.

"Perhaps! But in this anti-sensory field your senses are befuddled and your advantage gained through numbers is negated by these narrow hallways!" One of the youma dashed forward. "And we were granted our master's very bones, turned weapons! We fear no Claymores!"

Miata was in the front and swung her sword with so much forced that when it smashed into the youma's bone sword, he was sent flying. However, his weapon wasn't even scratched.

The youma flew back, slamming into the wall and bouncing off of it to land near the other youma.

Vodka tsked. "Whisky, you fool!"

He turned to the other three, each holding swords and clubs of bone.

"Gin! Rum! Tequila! Stay in formation!"

The four youma closed formation, staying together.

Two got on their knees as they all pulled out white bows and quivers of arrows. They notched together and took aim, pulled, and fired. The four arrows cut through the air, zooming towards the gathered Claymores.

Miata and the others in the front easily deflected the arrows, but some actually ricocheted off the wall and one nicked Yuma on her arm. At that moment the warriors realized the sharp and compact projectile weapons were a real murder in the tight corridor. The first youma to attack them, Whiskey got back on his feet and ran to his brothers after few seconds.

"Aniki!"

"Fool! Get ready!" They fired repeatedly as they held their position, but the difference between their powers was too vast for the advantages the youma had to secure their victory.

In addition, their supply of arrows was not unlimited.

After the first barrage, Clare stepped forward to use her Windcutter to make a slicing barrier of steel. Not one arrow made it past her. Five youma rapidly firing arrows was no match for the speed if Clare's Windcutter.

The youma soon ran out of arrows, and thus made use of the numerous bone spears scattered all over the hallway, and began a slow retreat, to allow them to grab more bone spears as they backed up.

Amazingly, the first volley of spears completely missed. Vodka's eyes went wide.

It was impossible! The Claymores were less than 15 yards away, they might be able to block, but there's no way that his squad's aim could possibly be that bad!

"What the hell?"

Unknown to them, Galatea's youki manipulation skill, enhanced even more over the years, was the cause of their horrific barrage.

The youma were wide open, because the first set of spears were meant to buy them a few seconds to ready the second one…With the volley's failure, they are exposed…And just like that they were cut down by Miata, Clare, Miria, and Galatea, who covered the distance between them and took them out in less than a second.

Gin's left arm was lopped off by Miria.

Tequila's left leg was cut off by Galatea.

Whiskey was cut down by Miata's strike.

And finally…Clare sliced Rum's body to pieces.

However, Vodka was spared and he counterattacked.

_Whoosh! Clank! Clank! Clank!_ He clashed with his bone sword against the nearest Claymore, which was Galatea, swinging wildly. His thinner sword was lighter and just as tough. Despite the lack of sword skill, the youma wielded the bone sword in a manner that somewhat worked.

However, Vodka didn't fight for long as he dashed away from her. He picked up one of the spike bones on the wall and threw it at the blind nun. Despite the desperate attack the nun blocked the spike with her steel blade.

"Damn it…Our order was to delay...Not to fight out…"

Behind him Miria appeared ready to slice him into two, but Tequila jumped in front of her with a bone club. However, the leader of the Ghosts was simply too much. Tequila didn't have a chance to scream before he was cut down.

"Tequila!" Vodka was the most experienced of the youma and he proved that by leaping onto the ceiling and pulling out two more bone swords without a pause. However rather than engage her he jumped past her to guard the hallway.

"GIN! STAND UP! RAKI-SAMA'S ORDER IS SIMPLE! PROTECT THIS HALL!"

Those words startled Clare out of her "battle mode".

"What?"

"HAHHH!"

Gin, one of the two remaining guards picked up a bone spear to gut Clare, but she was saved by Helen and Deneve when they sliced the youma into pieces.

"Clare! FOCUS!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Clare was saved by her friend, but the last remaining youma refused to die.

"GGUAAAHHHH!" Vodka threw more bone spikes at the group as a whole and the rapid fire spikes slowed them down…For a total four seconds…Not bad for a mere youma.

Clare's focus was now as sharp as a blade as she covered the distance between them by batting and blocking the projectiles. In a matter of seconds she stabbed her large sword into the youma's stomach.

"Guaaahh!" let out Vodka as he spat out purple blood.

Clare was merciless as she pulled the sword out and sliced the youma all over, not aiming to kill, but to cause pain.

"Ohh…AhhhhhGGGHHHHH!" Vodka groaned as he fell to his knees.

However Clare did this not because she is merciful, but to keep the flesh eating monster alive for questioning.

She stomped the injured youma to the floor and yelled at him.

"TELL ME! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, RAKI? WHERE IS HE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!"

"R-Raki...? How dare you a mere Claymore call him in such manner! HOW DARE YOU!" the injured Youma's finger extended into a spear, but it was cut off from the shoulder.

"I am the one doing the questioning! NOW, WHERE IS RAKI? WHERE!"

The injured Youma stared at his soon to be killer's silver eyes…A Claymore…In the end it is a damned half breed killing him…How fitting.

"R-Raki-sama…Pleae forgive this incompent Vodka…I…I was unable to fulfil…my duty…Please forgive this incompetent servant…My…lord…" groaned Vodka as he lowered his head.

"There it is again! You know who Raki is! SO TELL ME WHERE HE IS!"

"I'LL NEVER BETRAY MY LORD!"

"TELL ME!" Clare roared as she lowered her blade.

"NO!"

However…At that moment…Vodka stared at the dim light that brightened the dirty hallway…and saw the symbol on his soon to be killer's sword.

"Y-You? You can't be…"

Clare was confused by his words until the youma got up to his knee.

All the other Claymores were ready to finish him off for making him waste their precious time to chase their original target.

However they were more than a little surprised at the next action of the youma.

"Please wait! Lady Clare!"

"HUH?"

Already on one knee, Vodka placed his remaining arm on his folded knee. His claw down and his neck exposed in a sign of submission and respect.

"You…You wield the sword that is supposed to belong to Lady Clare…That is you, yes?

"…How do you know my name?" questioned the increasingly bewildered Number 47, with every other warrior listening in, eager to hear the answer as well.

"H-HAI! I am named Vodka and I serve the Abyssal of the South…Lord Raki, the Gouging Spearhead." Vodka said, doing a deep bow despite his injuries and missing limbs.

He slowly looked up.

"As one of his eyes and ears…I…We have been searching for you….Milady…Please forgive our foolishness! Clare-sama!"

This is a sight no Claymore has seen before…A youma…Showing respect…_deference_ for a Claymore…Wait…Did he say Raki was the Abyssal of the South?

'Lady Clare', as expected, gave an elegant response befitting her status.

"…Huh?"

* * *

What do ya think? I named the Youma after alcohol beverages.

This chapter took a lot of time, but I think it was well worth it.

The Raki I am trying to create is trying to achieve the same kind of control and power Isley used to have before he threw them away. He has spies all over the land to listen and see everything. And here I added the responsibility of a king that he has to follow.

In terms of power, Raki is not as powerful as Isley. In Claymore extra chapter 77.1 Regaldo revealed that despite his size Isley was still faster than him. So in terms of speed and power Isley is stronger and faster, but in terms of weapon creation skill Raki is faster and his weapons are more durable because they are made from his bones, which are considerably more durable than the flesh of even an Awakened Being, even one like Isley.

Also in terms of arrows, Raki's arrows are faster, and they take less time to be created. Also his arrows and weapon can cause youki poisoning. However Isley's arrows strike with more force due to their size and has eyes for tracking their targets.

The next chapter has not even been started because I am adding the finishing touch on my ch12 for the Reflection of the Sky. But the _King Shackled_ ch3 will be out before that…I think…I really depend on my beta.

Now that my summer class is over...for now, because i am taking two summer sumesters...I am going to write a bit more...Review everyone.


End file.
